Shooting victim ID'd in Saturday homicide

News-Sentinel staff report

Monday, October 21, 2013 - 10:08 am

One person has been identified after two men were killed in separate shootings over the weekend.

At 5:55 p.m. Saturday a driver reported seeing a man lying in the 800 block of East Lewis Street.The Allen County coroner's office Monday morning identified him as Algia Paul Robert Steward, 19, of Fort Wayne. Officers found him unresponsive in the street, according to police spokesman Officer Michael Joyner. He was taken in critical condition to Parkview Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 6:40 p.m. by attending physicians.

Steward’s death is the 37th homicide of 2013 in Allen County.

His death was followed by a second fatal shooting in less than 24 hours.

Fort Wayne Police were called at 12:10 p.m. to the 1200 block of West Wildwood Avenue in reference to a shooting investigation, according to John Chambers, police spokesman. As officers and paramedics arrived, they found a man who was suffering from an apparent gunshot wound. Paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene.

Investigators were told that a white vehicle was seen leaving the area at a high rate of speed immediately after gunshots were fired. Police have no suspect information and no arrests have been made.

The coroner’s office is expected to release the victim’s identity along with the exact cause and manner of death after an autopsy Monday.

Anyone who may have information regarding this incident is asked to contact Crime Stoppers at 436-STOP (436-7867) or the Fort Wayne Police Department Detective Bureau at 427-1201.

This incident remains under investigation by the FWPD, the coroner’s office and the Allen County prosecutor’s office.